


Rumor Has It

by kawaiinokyojin



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Did I mention fluff?, Fluff, Kylo Ren Being a Little Shit, M/M, Sleepovers, Yeah there's a wHOLE LOTTA FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 13:48:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5872729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawaiinokyojin/pseuds/kawaiinokyojin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What is this rumor?” He already knew the answer to his question.<br/>“I'll tell you if you let me stay the night.”</p>
<p>Hux sometimes hated being right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rumor Has It

“What do you mean 'the wiring in your room broke'?”  
“I mean what I say, General.” Kylo barely stood inside Hux's living quarters next to his packed luggage, his voice being distorted by his mask.  
“And that suddenly makes it utterly unlivable?”  
“There are people in the room constantly. They say that the damage is so extensive that they're going to have to work through the night.”  
“Oh, 'people in the room'. People are milling about in your room, completely unarmed and meaning well. Yes, completely unlivable now,” Hux shot back, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm.  
“When they have power tools and overactive voice boxes running every hour of the day, then yes, it is.”  
“And that's why you want to stay with me, of all people? Why not stay with Phasma?”  
“She _is_ less likely to try to murder me in my sleep.”  
“And yet, you have your bags all packed and ready to sleep with me. You may have done lots of brainless things, but conveniently forgetting that Phasma exists and has living quarters is so out of the ordinary for you, especially when the only other option is me.” Hux crossed his arms, his gaze unblinkingly fixed at his colleague's mask.  
“What are you getting at?” Kylo said, impatience evident in his tone as he shuffled further into the room.  
“I'm saying that you have ulterior motives, Ren.”  
“Oh? Like what?”  
“I don't know, but you always have ulterior motives. You wouldn't be Kylo Ren without them.”  
“Fine. I do have ulterior motives.”  
“Of course you do.” Hux could feel a creeping wave of suspicion crawl up his spine. Ren usually insisted he had no ulterior motives even when he did and every bit of evidence supported it. Still, Hux pressed the matter, morbid curiosity spurring him on. “Spit it out then.”  
“I was also coming because of a rumor about you.” Hux could feel the smirk emanating from the other man, even behind his unmoving mask. He knew it. Ren's willingness to reveal his motives existed only because his motives were sure to pique Hux's interest.  
“What is this rumor?” He already knew the answer to his question.  
“I'll tell you if you let me stay the night.”  
Hux sometimes hated being right.

xxxxxxx

“Freckles?”  
“I can't make this up.”  
Hux's surprised, ice blue eyes soon fixed a skeptical glare on Kylo. “Oh, I think you can and did. Freckles? Really, Ren?” His gaze hardened, becoming sardonic as the seconds passed. “If you're going to spout such lies through that mouth of yours, get out of my quarters.”  
“Why? Are the rumors true?”  
“Ren.”  
“I guess they are.” Ren rose from his seat at Hux's bar and turned to go. “Guess it's time to tell everyone that the rumors are true; Hux has the cutest little freckles that I ever did see and they make him look like a pouting twelve-year-old.”  
_“Ren!”_  
Kylo only advanced towards the door, opening it with ease. “Hey, Phasma –!” He was suddenly being tugged back by a gloved hand, the door in front of him closing on its own. As he turned, he found Hux's nose smushed up against the surface of his mask, his blue eyes staring directly through the slit of it. 

“Look, Ren. I know that even if you find that I don't actually have freckles, there's a large chance that you're going to tell everyone that I do anyway. You're going to tell everyone that I have the cutest little cherubic face or however the hell you phrased it before. But, on the slim, slim chance that you will be honest for once, I'll let you stay the night. Find your evidence yourself that I do or do not, if you'll just shut up about it.”  
“The fact that you're so riled up about this isn't helping your case any, general,” Kylo said, not even trying to keep the smugness out of his tone. “But I'll take you up on it.”

xxxxxxx

Hux and Kylo mainly left each other to their own devices, barring the occasional 30-second conversation about something utterly trivial like forms for work or theories about what Snoke does in his free time. The time passed steadily, yet slowly as Hux and Kylo sat together.  
“You know, I'm almost glad that the wiring in my quarters fizzled out,” Ren said after a long period of silence. Hux looked at him inquisitively.  
“Oh?”  
Ren nodded.  
“Why is that?” Hux could hear a static sigh fizzle from Kylo.  
“It's… nice to have someone else in the room. And not someone yelling orders at you or looking down at you like you're an unstable child. Just someone to sit with. Someone that I could call a… friend? Would that be the right word?” Hux was caught off guard by Kylo's sudden sentimentality. His emotions scrambled in his brain, confusing and worrying him. He decided to pick the one that he was the best at: calculated cynicism.

“Friend?” Hux began. “No, that isn't the right word at all. We aren't friends, Ren. First of all, there are no 'friends' in the First Order, only allies, and how you've forgotten this is beyond me and so typical of you all at once. Second of all, I'm only in the same room as you because you barged in here, these are _my_ living quarters, and you were wielding some sort of idiotic 'ulterior motive' as your 'reasoning'. Third of all, you're sitting across the room, barely even talking to me, your supposed 'friend', and fourth of all, I'm not an expert at the signs of a friendship, but I'm pretty sure not even taking off your mask in front of them is not on that list; in fact, I've never even seen your face! For all I know, you could be a sarlacc shoved into a human suit! I wouldn't even know!” Hux's composure slowly gave way to anger through his monologue and, by the end of it, he was glaring daggers at Kylo, his teeth gritted in an unconscious attempt to relieve some of the tension within him. Ren stared back at him through his mask, his emotions unreadable through it.

“I take off my mask, you take off yours,” Kylo said simply.  
“Wha – oh.” Hux sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting his eyes fall shut. “Are you still on about the damn freckles?”  
“Partially. I'm also talking about the metaphorical mask. You rant and rave about _me_ and how _I'm_ being so unfriendly and bad, but then even when I stay in your quarters for the night, as at least an ally, you're still 'General Hux'. You still have that side of yourself that you hide behind, like a shield from your own emotions. You use your alignment with the First Order not to advance their agenda at all or even your own, but to justify your fear of being human. Well, guess what? You can't be 'General Hux' forever. Sometimes you need to relax and just be 'Hux,' even if it's just for a night.”  
Hux tried to hide his surprise with some success. He tried to avert attention from it with a dismissive eye roll.  
“Very deep and insightful,” Hux said, forcing hints of sarcasm through his words. Kylo only stared at him, expressionless underneath the mask. Hux sighed, his posture slumping a bit.  
“Alright, fine. You've got me.” The redhead looked up at him. “You take your mask off, I take off mine, you said?” Kylo nodded. His hands moved towards the locks on his mask. Hux breathed deeply and repeated himself. “Fine, then. You take your mask off, and I'll take off mine.”

Ren undid the locks on his mask, a slight hissing noise being audible as he rose it off of his face. He set it down on the table, taking care to at least do it lightly. Still, the helmet made a slight thudding noise at it hit the hard surface. The man – Hux was glad that he was a man and not a Sarlacc as he had originally hypothesized – looked back towards an utterly captivated Hux.

“Beautiful” wasn't a word that Hux just threw around; it was irrelevant to most things regarding his duties. “Beautiful” was never a word that he used in reports to Snoke, debriefing of his subordinates, or even in the occasional damage report, so he had almost removed it from his vocabulary entirely. But when Kylo took off his mask, the term clawed its way up from Hux's subconscious just to describe him. Black hair tumbled around him in ebony waves to sit at his shoulders, framing his face perfectly. Eyes, equally black, stared expectantly at Hux, bearing slight nervousness and – what was that, concern? No. Hux's eyes were probably just playing tricks on him. Whatever they held, Kylo's eyes were beautiful; Kylo himself was beautiful. 

“Hux? What's with that look?” Hux snapped back to reality with those words. Kylo's voice quieted a bit as he let out a shaky sigh. “Oh, gods, with a look like that, you probably _wish_ that I was a Sarlacc,” he muttered to himself, his stoic facade cracking without his mask on. He bit his lip as anxiety crept over him, glancing back at his helmet on the side table. His hand slowly made its way towards it, opening its palm and trying to get it with the Force. “This was just the worst idea ever, so I'll just – hn?!” 

Before it could reach him, Hux had bolted up from his seat with a cry of “No!” and grabbed Ren's hand with passionate force. His gaze buzzed with the purest form of panic known to man and it was fixed directly on Ren. Hux had waited too damn long for Kylo's face without even knowing it; he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers. 

“H-Hux?” Ren's eyes flashed from his helmet to Hux, looking at him with utter confusion and nervousness.  
“No,” Hux repeated again, interlacing their fingers. "Y-you're fine." Their faces lingered inches apart; Hux had no idea what to say with Ren slowly breaking his walls down. He could do nothing but nervously chuckle and barely hold onto breath. 

“Oh wow, sure is getting late!” Hux suddenly stuttered, feeling physical pain as he tore himself away from Kylo. “We should be getting to bed.”

“Hux, wai-”

“Bed!” Hux marched himself back into his bedroom before Kylo could stop him, quickly changing into his pajamas and bundling himself up in his sheets as if they could protect him. His eyes slowly fell closed and tension seeped out of his bones once he felt sure that Kylo didn't and wouldn't follow him. As he lingered on the edges of sleep, a knocking on the wall roused him from near-slumber. 

“Hux?” Kylo sat on the other side of the bed, putting a hand on his back and making him tense up all over again. “Please tell me what's wrong.” But Hux did not speak; he cursed his own body as it arched into Ren's touch. The black-haired man soon realized what was wrong on his own.

“Feelings?” he stated simply.  
“Feelings.” Hux had feared his traitorous feelings for so long; this realization slowly dawned on him as he lay, snug in his sheets. He despised them with every fiber of his being. And yet still, they dared to show their faces - at such an inopportune moment - and ruin him completely. He gasped slightly as he felt Kylo lay down behind him, wrapping an arm around his shivering form. Feeling the sheets lift up slightly, the blood flew through his veins just a little bit faster when Kylo pressed his body up against Hux's back, wrapping a leg around him to join his arm.  
“What do you think you're doing?”  
“Taking half of your bed.”  
“Why so close, though?”  
“Ooh, you caught me. I'm sooo attracted to your semi-permanent scowl and the mound of hair gel in my face right now.”  
“If you really hate it so much, then move.”  
“Do you _want_ me to move?”  
Hux sighed, considering the question for a tense, uncomfortably long pause.  
“No, not really,” he conceded, defeated.  
He could feel Kylo's smirk against his skin.  
“But at least change out of your uniform.”  
“Fiiiine.” 

Hux felt slightly emptier as he felt Kylo leave the bed, but he soon returned, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, back to his same position he had before. Cuddled up to Hux, he sighed a contented hum before falling asleep almost immediately. Breathing a sigh of relief, he managed to wriggle his way out of Kylo's grip, despite how tight it was, and made his way to the bathroom. Quickly, because he was still Hux, he did his ever-important nighttime ritual, then made his way back to the bed, wiggling his way back into it and lying on his back. He soon felt Kylo's hand wrap around his abdomen, one hand settling on his chest. With a languid wave of his hand, the lights shut off.  
Click!

 

Click!  
The lights turned on again within a couple of seconds and Ren was on top of Hux, staring directly down at his face.  
“You _do_ have freckles!” Kylo crowed triumphantly, a smile spreading across his face. Indeed, once Hux had washed his make-up off, a dusting of orange-brown freckles appeared across his cheeks. Between those, his disheveled ginger hair, bashful blue eyes, and the growing blush across his face, he looked absolutely adorable.  
“You got me,” Hux mumbled. “That much is true.”  
“They're beautiful,” Kylo muttered, his tone softening.  
“That much is not true,” Hux countered, staring back up at Ren.  
“Yes, it is.”  
“No, it isn't.” Hux felt his face twist into a smile for one of the first times in his life. Ren beamed with pride.  
“Yes, it is!” Kylo couldn't help but press a kiss to Hux's cheek.  
“N-no, it isn't!” Chuckles interspersed within his speech now, Hux felt his smile growing wider as Kylo started putting butterfly kisses on his neck.  
“Yes, it is!” Kylo and Hux were laughing together now, the former not letting up on his onslaught of kisses.  
“N-no, it – Ren! That tickles!” Hux giggled and squirmed as Ren laughed and continued to kiss his neck, his feather-light touches making their way underneath Hux's shirt.  
“R-Ren, seriously, we need to stop, I have a meeting in the morning – ah!” Hux's usually authoritative tone melted away under giggles and laughs. He was eventually able to compose himself enough to shove Kylo aside, sending him tumbling off the bed. For a split second, Hux was worried.  
"Heh heh," he heard drifting from the other side after a couple of seconds. Hux relaxed himself, a sigh of relief washing over him.  
“Ren, seriously. Just go to bed,” Hux said, his tone absolutely blissful, yet calm. Kylo made his way up the bed, again laying his head on Hux. As he settled in, he listened to Hux's heartbeat as his chest rose and fell. With the first genuine smile in a long time, Hux wrapped his arms around his Ren, waving the lights off again.  
“Good night, Ren.”  
“Good night, General Freckles.”  
“Ren, no.”  
Ren wrapped his arm around Hux and pressed themselves together, content and basking in the brink of sleep.  
"Fine. Goodnight, Hux."


End file.
